Pull tab apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus to accurately punch openings in a web of material and heat seal tabs thereover to provide easy access to the contents of a package formed therefrom. As the machine performs these operations it is also accumulating a predetermined amount of paper for the next cycle.

United States Patent 11 1 Young, Jr. et al. 51 Feb. 5, 1974 FULL TABAPPARATUS [56] References Clted [75] Inventors: William 0. Young, Jr.;Walter J. UNITED STATES PATENTS Quflllebaum, both of p g, 3,197,3537/1965 Williams et a1. 156/514 x S.C. 3,310,450 3/1967 Dedona et a1.156/514 [73] Assignee Deming Mmiken Research 3,471,351 10/1969 Fuchs156/514 X Corporation Spartanburg Primary Examiner-Edward G. WhitbyFiledl J 1, 19 2 iiior hsflleht, or F inn-Norman C. Armitage; [21] Appl.No: 222,400 7 William Petty; Earle R. Marden Related U-S. ApplicationData ABSTRACT [62] 222 i 1971 A method and apparatus to accurately punchopenings in a web of material and heat seal tabs thereover to provideeasy access to the contents of a package '8 a 33 formed therefrom. Asthe machine performs these [58] Fieid 252 583 379 operations it is alsoaccumulating a predetermined amount of paper for the next cycle.

8 Claims, 20 Drawing Figures PAIENTEB FEB 5 I974 sum 01 UP 1 mamm 5W3.790.424

SHEET UZUF 12 PATENTED FEB 51974 -SHEET 030? '12 PATENIEUFEBS'W I3.790.424

' SHET UBUF12 PAIENTEDFEB 5W Y 3.790.424 SHEET UBOF 12 FIG. [2-

PATENTEDFEB 5W $190,424

SHEET IODF 12 PAIENTEDFEB slam SHEET 110? 12 PULL TAB APPARATUS Thisapplication is a division of application Ser. No. 104,725, filed Jan. 7,1971, now U. S. Pat. No. 3,676,251.

This invention relates generally to the preparation of a continuouslength of web material in which openings have been made therein foraccess to the contents of a package made therefrom and have a tab heatsealed thereover for removal by the consumer. In particular thisinvention relates to web material to be used in the construction of atetrahedron container such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,166,226.

Prior to this invention the web stock for forming the package wasmounted on the packaging machine and the openings and pull tabsthereover were made by the machine itself. This, of course, requires apull tab apparatus for each packaging machine and such apparatus limitedthe speed of the packaging machine since the machine could only run asfast as the pull tabs were being placed over the openings being placedin the web stock.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a roll of webmaterial which already has the openings therein and pulltabs placedthereover.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readilyapparent as the specification proceeds to describe the invention withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of the new machine to pre-apply pulltabs to a sheet of web material;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation view of the machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3-6 show various cam actuated switches employed to control theoperation of the machine;

FIG. 7 illustrates a strip of packaging material with pull tabs sealedover the openings therein;

FIG. 8 is a blown-up front cross-sectional view of the paper accumulatorsection of the machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 8 showing theaccumulator cam;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken on line l0l0 of FIG. 8 showingthe exit clamp;

FIG. 1 I is a rear elevation view ofthe hole punch section;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 12-l2 of FIG. 11 showingthe punch cam;

FIG. 13 is a rear view of the pull tab heat sealing unit and the pulltab tape feed;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 14-44 of FIG. 13 andshows the heat seal cam;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken on line l5-15 of FIG. 13 showinga pull tab tape metering cam system;

FIGS. 16 and 17 are cross-sectional views taken on line 16-16 of FIG. 13showing the pull tab tape puller cam;

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view showing the tape knock-off device;

FIG. 19 is a top view of the tab tape roll support; and

FIG. 20 shows a perspective view of a roll of material with pull tabsapplied thereto.

As pointed out briefly, this invention is directed to packaging materialto be formed into tetrahedron containers and is preferably laminatedstock material with one lamina being a layer of thermoplastic materialsubstantially impervious and inert to the contents of the containerformed from said material. The laminated material used to form thesecontainers is ordinarily one or more layers of paper laminated to layersof polyethylene or polypropylene so that the face of the laminatedmaterial which will form the inner face of the container will present aliquid impervious face to the contents. The outermost lamina isordinarily moisture resistant, either by being formed of a layer of wetstrength paper or a lamina of thermoplastic materials such as wax orpolyethylene, or both. The container will bear the conventionaltransverse sealed seams and longitudinal, inside face to inside face, orlapped seam. At the apex which is uppermost of the wallwhich facesupward when the container rests on the opposite wall, there is providedan access aperture in the wall. This will ordinarily be a small roundhole which, if the container is a pint or half-pint size, will be aboutthe size which will receive a drinking straw. The opening is sealed by atab covering the opening and bonded to the outer face of the portion ofthe wall surrounding the opening by the bonding of the portion of thethermoplastic material forming at least one face of the tape to theoutermost lamina of the container, thus providing a liquid tight seal.The tape is ordinarily formed of paper laminated to polyethylene orpaper impregnated with polyethylene, polypropylene, or wax.

Looking now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 represent schematically thefront and back, respectively, of the machine which produces the web ofmaterial 10 shown rolled in FIGS. 1 and 20 and shown unrolled in FIG. 7.As described above, the material 10 is laminated and the purpose of thisinvention is to provide aplurality of staggered openings 12 therein andheat seal a tab 14 thereover to provide a seal until it is desired togain access through the opening 12 into the contents of the containerformed from the web material. It should be noted that each adjacentopening and pull tab is staggered in relation to the next adjacentopening and pull tab. This arrangement is necessary in order to be ableto roll up a large roll of this material and still maintain stabilityand the proper tensity. The pull tabs balance one another so that whenthe material is rolled up the roll of material 10 will havesubstantially the same diameter on both sides. If the tabs were notstaggered the roll would have a combined thickness of the pull tabs andthe web of material which would tend to distort or telescope sidewaysmaking it very difficult to run on a packaging machine. Also a roll ofmaterial with pull tabs not staggered would be difficult to ship andhandle.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 a roll of 16 laminated paper stock 10 ismounted on a shaft 18 driven in a counterclockwise direction through aneddy current clutch (not shown) by a motor 20 to control the tension inthe paper 10 as it is being pulled off the roll by the drive rolls 22and 24 which are driven by motor 26. Both the motors 20 and 26 drivetheir respective rolls through suitable drive belts 28. As is well knownin the art, the eddy current clutch for the motor 20 will brake therotation of the roll 16 to maintain the desired tension in the paperstock 10.

The paper stock 10 travels successively through the paper supply chamber30, tension control 32, accumulator chamber 34, punch chamber 36, pulltab heat seal chamber 38, driven roll section 40, paper collectionchamber 42, metering rolls 44 and 45 onto the take-up roll 46 which isdriven by the motor 48. Metering rolls 44 and 45 are driven by asuitable motor 47.

As will be explained in detail hereinafter, the basic machine operationsare controlled by photocell 50 and cams 52, 54, 56 and 58 shown indetail in FIGS. 3-6, respectively. The control arrangement is designedso that an exact amount of paper is being accumulated in the accumulatorsection 34 for the next cycle while the leading portion issimultaneously being punched in the punch chamber 36 while pull tabs 14are being heat sealed over the openings 12, punched in a previous cycle,in the heat sealing chamber 38.

Since the drive rolls 22, 24 and 44, 45 operate continuously while thepunching and sealing operation is intermittent it is desirable to have aloop of web material in both the paper supply chamber 30 and the papercollection chamber 42. To control the amount of loop in such chambers aphotocell 60 and light source 62 are located in the upper portion of thechambers 30 and 42 and a second photocell 64 and light source 66 arelocated near the bottom of each chamber. When the loop increases to apoint where it drops down to block the light from the light source 66 aswell as the light source 60 the speed of the motor 26 will be decreasedto decrease the speed of the rolls 22 and 24, and the speed of motor 47will be increased to increase the speed of rolls 44 and 45. Conversely,if the loop rises to a point above the light source 60 and both thephotocells 62 and 66 are receiving light then the speed of the motor 26will be increased and the speed of motor 47 decreased to allow the webmaterial 10 to accumulate in the chambers 30 or 42 to lower the positionof the loop of web material therein.

As discussed above, the photocell arrangement controls the speed of therolls 44 and 45 but a further control in the speed of the rolls 44 and45 is exerted by the use of both an eddy current clutch and an eddycurrent brake on the motor 47. If the speed of the rolls 44 and 45varies from a set point, the eddy current brake or the eddy currentclutch will act to maintain the tension depending on which side of theset point the speed has varied to.

Another photocell 68 and light source 70 are employed on the output sideof the rolls 44 and 45 to scan the web material which has been punchedand tabbed to determine whether some of the openings therein have notbeen sealed over with pull tabs 14. If a hole in the web material 10which has no tab thereover passes between the photocell 68 and lightsource 70 the light from the light source 70 will be detected by thephotocell 68 and a signal will be generated which can be used either toshut off the machine or to actuate a signal to notify the operator ofsuch defect.

The tension of the web material being supplied to the accumulator 34 iscritical since it is desired to accumulate an exact amount of paper inthe accumulator so that the pull tabs will be located in the correctposition, and therefore a tension control 32 is employed to keep theslack out of the web material in the accumulator. The tension control 32is a commercially available type which employs a spring loaded plate 71to exert a force normal to the web material as it is being delivered tothe accumulator.

The accumulator chamber 34 is located downstream of the tension control32 with the paper flow therethrough being controlled by the photocell50, the entrance clamp 72 and the cam actuated exit clamp 74.

As discussed previously, the purpose of the accumulator chamber 34 is toaccumulate a desired length of web material 10 for the next punchingcycle. FIGS. 8-10 show the accumulator chamber 34 when the accumulators76 and the trim cylinder 78 are extended and are about to retract beforethe trimmer 77 com pletes pulling in the paper prior to the closing ofthe entrance clamp 72 to confine the desired length of web material inthe chamber 34.

The entrance clamp 72 is actuated by the piston 80 while the movement ofthe exit clamp 74 is controlled by the cam 82 (FIG. 10) which acts onthe follower 84 to pivot the lever 86 against the bias of spring 88 toclose the exit clamp 74 to grip the paper against the fixed mating clamp90. The cam 82 is so designed to co-act with the other movements of themachine.

It should be noted (FIG. 2) that the mechanical mechanisms to cause therequired movements of the elements of the accumulator chamber 34, thepunch chamber 36, cams 52, 54, 56, 58 and the pull tab heating sealingsection 38 are all mounted in operative relationship with extended shaft92 which is driven by motor 94 through pulley belt 96.

Looking at FIGS. 8 and 9, each of the accumulators 76 except trimmer 77are driven in its downward move ment by a cam 98 mounted on the extendedshaft 92 and rotating therewith. Trimmer 77 is driven by cam 98a. Eachaccumulator 76 and trimmer 77 consists of a finger member having aroller 100 rotatably mounted at the bottom thereof between side plates102. Side plates 102 in turn are mounted to horizontally extendingsupport members 104 which are pivotally mounted at 106 to a supportmember 108. Another support member 110 extends between the side walls102 and supports a U-shaped bracket 112 which pivotally sup ports aconnecting arm 114. Connecting arms 114 extend upwardly and arepivotally supported between a pair of lever arms 116 and 118 rotatablysupported on shaft 120 supported on the top of the machine by suitablebrackets 122. A cam follower 124 is mounted inside a pair of levers andis engaged by earns 98 and acts against the bias of springs 99. Trimmer77 is constructed like accumulator 76 except cam 98a delays the actionof the trimmer.

The side plates 102, from the pivot points 106 toward the middle of theaccumulator chamber 34, fit inside the next adjacent side plates 102toward the pivot points 106, and are so placed that the rollers 100 willpush web material down between the rollers 126.

In the preferred form of the invention it is desired to punch and heatseal eight pull tab openings at one time as shown in FIG. 7, but anyreasonable desired number can be made. It is desired that each openingin the web material is staggered in relation to the next adjacentopening. To accomplish the desired punching of the web material eightpunch members 128 are mounted in the punch chamber 36 to simultaneouslypunch eight openings in the web material from the bottom thereof.Looking at FIGS. 11 and 12 the punch mechanism is shown in detail. Thetiming of the punch operation is controlled by the cams 130 mounted onthe shaft 92 which contacts the followers 132 mounted between lever arms134 which arepivotally mounted at 136. Pivotally connected between thelevers 134 at the other end thereof is a connecting arm 138 whichpivotally connects the lever arms 134 to the lever arms 140. The leverarms 140 are pivotally connected to a stub shaft 142 mounted in suitablebearings 144 supported on the frame of the machine. When the cams 130force the lever arms 134 downwardly the lever arms 140 will pivotupwardly through the action of connecting arm 138 to force the punchholder 146 upwardly against the bias of springs 148 to force the punchmembers 128 through the paper. Then the cams 130 will continue to rotateand the springs will return the punch members to the down position.

From the punch chamber 36 the web material is indexed to the pull tabseal chamber wherein the pull tab 14 is heat sealed to the web materialover the opening 12. A plate 150 is mounted on the machine frame betweenthe chambers 36 and 38 to prevent the web material from buckling so thatthe previously punched opening will be in proper position under theheater platens 152.

At the appropriate time when the cams 154, mounted on the shaft 92 (FIG.14), rotate to the desired position, the cam surface will push thefollower 156 upwardly, thereby pivoting the lever arms 155, pivotallyconnected to shaft 157, counterclockwise to push the heater platen arms158 and 160 downwardly against the bias of springs 161 to push the tapeportion 163 down against the blades 162 to cause the blades 162 to severoff eight pull tabs 14 from the tape material 164 and the heater platens152 to heat seal the severed pull tabs 14 over the openings 12.

The pull tab material 164 comes in rolls and is rotably mounted in bins166 (See FIG. 2) at the rear of the machine and is delivered under theheater platens 152 by a drive roll 168 in a manner hereinafterexplained. In its path of travel from the bins 166 to the platens 152the pull tab material travels successively between the spaced rods ofthe stop motion actuator wire 170, over pull back preventor 172, underguide rod 174, between eccentrically mounted rolls 176 and 178, over therod 180 and through the drive roll 168 and nip roll 184 into positionunder the heater platen 152.

The pull tab material 164 is wound on a cardboard tube 186 and ismounted on a rod 188 projecting into the bins 166. Looking at FIGS. 18and 19 the rod 188 is pinned by pin 190 into a cylindrical member 192which is mounted into a plastic support member 194. The plastic supportmember 194 is rigidly attached to the partition between the bins. Thesupport member 194 has a groove 196 therein to accommodate a spring 198hooked to a pin 200 at one end and another pin 202 integral with thecylindrical member 192. The rod 188 is capable of pivotal movement upand down while the cylindrical member 192 is capable of rotationalmovement. As shown in the position of FIG. 19 hte rod 188 is in itsoperation and the cylindrical member is held against further movement bya stop (not shown). When it is desired to load the bins 166 with a newroll of pull tab material 164, the roll is placed in the bin with itsaxis of rotation perpendicular to the bin side walls. Then the roll ispushed forward against the rod 188 causing the cylindrical member torotate against the bias of the spring 198 until the rod 188 enters theinside 'of the hollow tube 186'. Then the spring 198 rotates thecylindrical member 192 and the rod 188 to the operative position shownin FIG. 19.

As shown in FIG. 18 the upward movement of the rod 188 cooperates withthe stop motion actuator 170 to provide for a means to stop the machinewhen any of the rolls of pull tab tape run out. Basically the stopmotion device consists of two plates 204 mounted on opposite sides ofthe rear of heat seal chamber 38 and each supporting a switch 206.Switches 206 each have an actuator arm 208 which extend adjacent a notch209 in the plates 204. The stop motion actuator wire consists of twoelongated rods connected together to span the width of the heat sealchamber and resting on the actuator arms 208 of the switches 206 to holdthem down in normal operating position. The end of the roll of pull tabmaterial 164 is connected to the tube 187 so that when the pull tabmaterial runs out the tube will be pulled upwardly until it reaches theposition shown in FIG. 18 whereat it lifts the stop motion wire allowingone of the actuator arms 208 to lift thereby opening the switch 206associated therewith and thereby shut off the machine until a new rollis replaced by an operator.

Mounted above the stop motion actuator wire 170 is the pull tab materialpull back preventor or snubber 172 to prevent the tension in thematerial and rocking movement of the tape roll from pulling the materialback beyond the preventor 172. Basically it consists of an elongatedbracket which supports a plurality of plastic members 211 which tend topress the pull tab mate rial against the elongated rod member 210.

From the pull back preventor the pull tab material passes between theeccentrically mounted rolls 176 and 178. A pair of rolls 176 and 178 isrequired for each heat sealing position and is ecentrically mounted onshafts 212 and 214 which are supported in end plates 216 and 218. Therod member also extends between end plates 216 and 218 and has twoconnecting rods 222 pivotally connected thereto. At the other end theconnecting rods are pivotally connected to a lever arm 224 which in turnis pivotally connected to shaft 157. Cams 226 contact follower 228 tocause the eccentrically mounted rolls to be pulled upwardly (See FIG.17) when pull tab material is needed for the next machine cycle. Thecams 226 areso desired to pull the rolls 176 and 178 upwardly just priorto the actuation of the drive roll 168 so that there will be a supply ofpull tabs available when the drive roll 168 is actuated.

The rolls 176 and 178 are eccentrically mounted on shafts 212 and 214and spring loaded toward one another so that on the upward movement therolls will be in nip forming relationship so that pull tab material willbe pulled from the supply roll by the rolls 176 and 178. Then the rollsare allowed to return to the position shown in FIG. 16 where roll 176will hit the stop member 215 causing it to rotate away from roll 178 andallow the pull tab material to lay slack between the rolls 176, 178 andthe pull back preventor 172. Then when the drive roll 168 is actuatedthis accumulated slack will be pulled out through the spring loadedrolls 176 and 178. The rolls 176 and 178 are eccentrically mounted topull the tab material into position against the inertia of the pull tabmaterial supply roll.

The drive rolls 168 for each heat sealing unit are mounted on shaft 229(FIGS. 14 and 15) and are driven intermittently by ratchet 230. Theratchet 230 is moved incrementally by pawl 232 mounted on lever 234biased toward the ratchet by spring 236. Lever arm 234 is pivotallyconnected to lever arm 238 which is pivotallymounted on shaft 157 and ispivoted by the cam 240 mounted on the shaft 92. In FIG. 15 the cam 240has pushed the follower 242 and lever arm 238 upward to index theratchet 230 and consequentially the drive roll 168. Then the cam 240will continue to rotate allowing the spring 243 to pull the lever arm234 upwardly in preparation for the next cycle.

The flow of web material 10 from the accumulator chamber 34 into thepaper collection chamber 42 is controlled by the roll 245 (FIG. 1) whichis driven either by roll 240 or 260 which in turn are drivencontinuously by motor 244. Roll 245 is rotably mounted in pivot arm 247pivoted by piston member 246. When the roll 245 is down paper is beingpulled and when in the up position it engages the roll 240 to maintainits speed for the next downward movement to pull paper. Located betweenthe heat seal chamber 38 and driven roll chamber 40 are snubbers 248 and250 to prevent pull back of the paper and maintain the paper in asubstantially flat position.

As described hereinbefore the web material passes into the papercollection chamber 42 and is delivered to the take-up roll 46 by themetering rolls 44 and 45. Operably associated with the takeup roll 46 isa torque detector 249 to measure the diameter of the roll 46 in order todetermine the amount of torque required on the roll 46 for constanttension take-up of the web ma terial to provide a roll of pre-appliedpull paper such as that shown in FIG. 20.

OPERATION For the sake of discussion, assume the machine has justcompleted a cycle and the piston 246 has just been actuated so that roll245 has just pulled the web material 10 into proper postiion so thatpunched openings 12 lie under the heater platens 152 ready to be sealedover with pull tabs 14. Each of the drive rolls 168 has been actuated toplace tab material 164 over each of the punched openings. The earns 82,130 and 154 are starting to act against their respective lever arms 86,134 and 155 to start the movement of the exit clamp 74, the punch unitand the heat sealing unit. Then the exit clamp 74 closes as shown inFIG. 10 while the cam 58 allows the switch 252 (FIGS. 2 and 6) to opento reset the registration unti and the solenoid controlling the piston80 is deenergized to allow the entrance clamp 72 to open. When theentrance clamp 72 is open the cams 98 cause the accumulator 76 to startdown to push web material between the rollers 126 and the cam 54 closesswitch 254 to energize the solenoid controlling the trim cylinder 78 tocause the roller 100 connected thereto to start its downward movement.As the trim cylinder 78 is fully extended downward the cams 98 causefour of the other rollers to complete the downward movement to pull inapproximately 95 percent of the required amount of web material for thenext cycle. Cam 98a continues to pull web material at a slow rate and atabout the same time cam 58 closes switch 252 to energize photocell 50 toscan the web material to detect the indicia printed thereon. When theindicia is pulled into correct position the photocell 50 will then act,causing the entrance clamp 72 to close and the trim cylinder 78 toretract. The cam 98a completes its pull on the web left slack by thetrim cylinder. A measured amount of paper is now between the entranceand exit clamps 72 and 74 which at this moment are both closed. Thepunch 128 and heater platens 152 complete the punching of holes in thepunch chamber 36 and the heat sealing of tabs in the heat sealingchamber 38. Just as the above operations are being completed the cam 56(FIGS. 2 and 5) close the switch 258 to energize a solenoid to cause thepiston member to start down to lower the drive roll 245 down onto thepaper against the nip roll 260. Shortly after the switch 258 is closed,the accumulator exit cam causes the exit clamp to open. Then the driveroll 245 pulls the web material forward until the switch 258 opens tocause the piston 246 to pull the drive roll 245 upwardly. Then the cycleis repeated to provide another section of web material with pull tabsheat sealed thereon.

It should be kept in mind that basically the machine is performing threeoperations simultaneously to provide an efficient rapid operatingmachine. These basic operations consist of accumulating web material inone portion of the machine while the web material is being punched atanother position and pull tabs are being heat sealed thereto at a thirdposition.

Although we have described in detail the preferred embodiments of ourinvention, we contemplate that many changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of our invention and we desire to belimited only by the claims.

That which is claimed is:

1. Apparatus to provide a roll of web material with pull tabs appliedthereon comprising: a frame, web material supply means operablyassociated with said frame, a web material accumulator chamber on saidframe, means to accumulate web material in said accumulator chamber,means to simultaneously punch a plurality of holes in said web materialon said frame spaced from said accumulator chamber while web material isbeing accumulated in said accumulator chamber, means spaced from saidpunch means to seal tabs over the holes punched in said web material,means to supply tabs to said means to seal tabs and means to take upsaid web material after the tabs have been sealed thereon.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said material supply means includesa means to provide a loop of web material and means to increase ordecrease the length of said loop upon the detection of certainpredetermined conditions of said loop.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said take-up means includes a meansto provide a loop of web material and means to increase or decrease thelength of said loop upon the detection of certain predeterminedconditions of said loop. I

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said material supply means includesa means to provide a loop of web material and means to increase ordecrease the length of said loop upon the detection of certainpredetermined conditions of said loop.

5. Apparatus to provide a roll of web material with pull tabs appliedthereon comprisingza frame, web material supply means operablyassociated with said frame, a web material accumulator chamber on saidframe, means to accumulate web material in said accumulator chamber,means to punch holes in said web material on said frame spaced from saidaccumulator chamber, means spaced from said punch means to seal tabsover the holes punched in said web material, means to supply tabs tosaid means to seal tabs and means to take up said web material after thetabs have been sealed thereon, said take-up means including a means tointermittently index web material from said accumulator to said punchmeans.

6. The apparatus of claim wherein said intermittent indexing meansincludes a pair of rolls continuously driven and spaced from oneanother, a third roll between said pair of rolls and means to pivot saidthird roll into operative relationship with one or the other of saidpair of rolls.

7. Apparatus to provide a roll of web material with pull tabs appliedthereon comprising: a frame, web material supply means operablyassociated with said frame, a web material accumulator chamber on saidframe, means to accumulate web material in said accumulator chamber,means to punch holes in said web material on said frame spaced from saidaccumulator chamber, means spaced from said punch means to seal tabsover the holes punched in said web material, means to supply tabs tosaid means to seal tabs, means to take up said web material after thetabs have been sealed thereon, said material supply means including ameans to provide a loop of web material, means to increase or decreasethe length of said loop upon the detection of certain predeterminedconditions of said loop and means to pretension said web material priorto entering said accumulator chamber.

8. Apparatus to provide a roll of web material with pull tabs appliedthereon comprising: a frame, web material supply means operablyassociated with said frame, a web material accumulator chamber on saidframe, means to accumulate web material in said accumulator chamber,means to punch holes in said web material on said frame spaced from saidaccumulator chamber, means spaced from said punch means to seal tabsover the holes punched in said web material, means to supply tabs tosaid means to seal tabs, means to take up said web material after thetabs have been sealed thereon, said take-up means including a means toprovide a loop of web material and means to increase or decrease thelength of said loop upon the detection of certain predeterminedconditions of said loop, said material supply means including a means toprovide a loop of web material and meansto increase or decrease thelength of said loop upon the detection of certain predeterminedconditions of said loop and I means to pretension said web materialprior to entering said accumulator chamber;

1. Apparatus to provide a roll of web material with pull tabs appliedthereon comprising: a frame, web material supply means operablyassociated with said frame, a web material accumulator chamber on saidframe, means to accumulate web material in said accumulator chamber,means to simultaneously punch a plurality of holes in said web materialon said frame spaced from said accumulator chamber while web material isbeing accumulated in said accumulator chamber, means spaced from saidpunch means to seal tabs over the holes punched in said web material,means to supply tabs to said means to seal tabs and means to take upsaid web material after the tabs have been sealed thereon.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said material supply means includes a meansto provide a loop of web material and means to increase or decrease thelength of said loop upon the detection of certain predeterminedconditions of said loop.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein saidtake-up means includes a means to provide a loop of web material andmeans to increase or decrease the length of said loop upon the detectionof certain predetermined conditions of said loop.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 3 wherein said material supply means includes a means to provide aloop of web material and means to increase or decrease the length ofsaid loop upon the detection of certain predetermined conditions of saidloop.
 5. Apparatus to provide a roll of web material with pull tabsapplied thereon comprising:a frame, web material supply means operablyassociated with said frame, a web material accumulator chamber on saidframe, means to accumulate web material in said accumulator chamber,means to punch holes in said web material on said frame spaced from saidaccumulator chamber, means spaced from said punch means to seal tabsover the holes punched in said web materiaL, means to supply tabs tosaid means to seal tabs and means to take up said web material after thetabs have been sealed thereon, said take-up means including a means tointermittently index web material from said accumulator to said punchmeans.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said intermittent indexingmeans includes a pair of rolls continuously driven and spaced from oneanother, a third roll between said pair of rolls and means to pivot saidthird roll into operative relationship with one or the other of saidpair of rolls.
 7. Apparatus to provide a roll of web material with pulltabs applied thereon comprising: a frame, web material supply meansoperably associated with said frame, a web material accumulator chamberon said frame, means to accumulate web material in said accumulatorchamber, means to punch holes in said web material on said frame spacedfrom said accumulator chamber, means spaced from said punch means toseal tabs over the holes punched in said web material, means to supplytabs to said means to seal tabs, means to take up said web materialafter the tabs have been sealed thereon, said material supply meansincluding a means to provide a loop of web material, means to increaseor decrease the length of said loop upon the detection of certainpredetermined conditions of said loop and means to pretension said webmaterial prior to entering said accumulator chamber.
 8. Apparatus toprovide a roll of web material with pull tabs applied thereoncomprising: a frame, web material supply means operably associated withsaid frame, a web material accumulator chamber on said frame, means toaccumulate web material in said accumulator chamber, means to punchholes in said web material on said frame spaced from said accumulatorchamber, means spaced from said punch means to seal tabs over the holespunched in said web material, means to supply tabs to said means to sealtabs, means to take up said web material after the tabs have been sealedthereon, said take-up means including a means to provide a loop of webmaterial and means to increase or decrease the length of said loop uponthe detection of certain predetermined conditions of said loop, saidmaterial supply means including a means to provide a loop of webmaterial and means to increase or decrease the length of said loop uponthe detection of certain predetermined conditions of said loop and meansto pretension said web material prior to entering said accumulatorchamber.